The Future Without You
by ToujoursMiraculous
Summary: After Phil went back to the year 2121 with his family, how does Keely cope knowing Phil's over one hundred years away?
1. Gone

**AN: I wrote this _years_ ago and thought about this old thing again, and figured it'd be such a shame not to post it. So in case there are any of you PotF fans out there that would like to revisit their story, I hope you enjoy this old work of mine! c:**

* * *

Phil went back to the future, to the year 2121. A law was passed, according to Mr. Diffy, stating time travel was prohibited in the future due to the Diffy's little incident of not managing to make it back home from their time-traveling vacation, so Phil had to say goodbye to me forever. He was my best friend, and most recent to his departure, my boyfriend. At first, I thought I'd be okay with him going back. I had accepted it the day he turned and walked away after our memorable broadcast. Only, with every passing day, my heart felt more heavy than the last.

The friends that remained were Via and Owen, though when they started dating, I became a sort of third wheel and stopped hanging around them much. I still kept in touch with Tia, and told her that Phil had left Pickford. Keeping my promise to the Diffy's, I gave her some bogus story about how they had moved to some remote location where no form of communication was possible, since communicating through a century and two decades is impossible, it was as close as I could get to the truth. Her only advice was to go shopping at the mall and "shop for hotties". Typical Tia.

Summer came a couple of months after Phil left, so to kill time and make some money for school, I got a part-time job working at Pickford's Pizzeria. Mr. Hackett stopped by one day to pick up his dinner, and slipped in a comment about the Diffy's.

"It's been quiet around the neighborhood," he hinted, eyeing me suspiciously. No doubt trying to get me to say something about the Diffy's.

"Yeah, it has," smiling faintly, and trying not to let it get to me, I answered.

"Surely you know why the Diffy's left." It wasn't a question.

"Not the technicalities, just that they had to leave."

"Right. Well, thank you for the pizza," he grabbed the cardboard box from my hands, replacing it with money, and scurried away.

Mr. Hackett stopped by nearly every day after he discovered I was working there. This was the first time he mentioned their name since they left, though.

After work, I went directly to my room. I was tired, and a bit irritated that Mr. Hackett wouldn't let it go that something strange was going on with the Diffy family. They were gone, and yet he was still obsessed.

I sat down at my desk, putting my head in my hands, when I glanced over and saw my guitar, sitting in the corner of my room. It was covered with a layer of dust that had settled since his last day. I remembered then when he helped me get over my stage fright, by shrinking himself and climbing up onto the microphone.

I smiled at the thought, and picked up my out-of-tune guitar. I began playing _Protecting Me_ , first strumming, then deciding to sing along.

 _You, you're always there for me_  
When I need you most  
Day or night, you're by my side  
Protecting me

I set my guitar back into the corner, and went to get ready for bed.  
When I was brushing my teeth, I hummed the tune I had just been singing. A half an hour later, as I laid my head down on the pillow, I wondered what Phil was doing at that moment. Then a depressing thought hit me.

 _Wait, he's in the future, there is no right now for him. He's not doing anything now, he hasn't even been born yet. His great-grandparents haven't even been born yet! The only relation I know of in this time period is Kyle. I wonder..._

You know it's true what they say about time travel. It really gives you a headache! I started thinking about his family tree, and my mind wandered to how much Kyle resembled Phil.

 _Ugggh stop thinking about him! He's gone. He doesn't even exist. It's like he's dead...no! Not dead. Not dead. He'll be alive in about a hundred years. But by then, I'll be dead..._

I stared at the dark ceiling, tears burning my eyes, threatening to spill over. It wasn't until this moment that it really hit me. I was never going to see him again. It's not like he had just moved away. If he had, he'd still exist in my time. I'd still be able to talk to him. I'd get to see his smile, and those warm, kind eyes again. The way I'd catch him looking at me that made me feel like I was special...

I rolled over, letting the tears fall on my pillow, and wiped my cheeks, sniffing.  
 _These memories are going to be burned in my mind forever, as heartbreaking as they are to me now, I'll never forget them. And maybe someday, maybe I'll be able to look back on them with a smile instead of tears._

"Happy thoughts, happy thoughts..." I muttered aloud.  
 _Remember, you got to see a glimpse of your future!_ A voice said suddenly in the back of my mind.

 _Yeah, courtesy of Phil,_ said another, gloomy voice.

 _You become a reporter, something you've always wanted! Don't lose sight of that. Just keep working on it._ The cheerful voice went on.

 _It's what Phil would want._

 _And you get married!_

 _That's right..._ I remembered that "video" of myself in the future, reporting on aliens with a beautiful wedding band on my left ring finger. I had what looked to be a happy future, and the pain I was feeling now wouldn't affect it.

I drifted off, Phil's face fading behind my eyelids as I fell asleep.

The rest of the summer went by fairly quickly. I kept myself busy with loads of activities and volunteer work I had signed up for. And before I knew it, it was junior year.

"Can you believe another year has flown by?" Via said to me on the first day of school in her British accent.

"No, I can't," I replied, heading for my locker. I had all my little things to put back in from the previous year, but with the addition of my salt shaker and a photo of Phil.

The school year went by in a blur, and so did my dreams. They were blurs of faces and memories, and I hardly remembered a thing when I woke up, for which I was grateful. Only rarely did I try to picture Phil in the future, and tried not to think of him with someone else, with other friends laughing and having a good time. Though, it's also what I want for him, to be happy and live his life, even if I was no longer apart of it.

Summer came again, and I had an internship at our local news station that occupied a lot of my time, but I also resumed my old job at the pizzeria.

Senior year approached in a flash, with few changes from the year before. Owen and Via broke up, but I remained friends with them both. I also became friends with a couple of new students, John and Becca.

"We're seniors!" John exclaimed on the first day of school, after walking in the front door.

"Shhh John!" Becca whispered, "Don't be so obnoxious about it. Yes we're upperclassmen. Don't be a jerk."

"Someone got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning!" John made a goofy face, trying to imitate Becca's. She wasn't pleased.

"Ha ha, how cute," Becca rolled her eyes. "So Keel, what do you have first?"

I took out my schedule that I had picked up the day before, and saw I had English with Thompson.

"Ah, so do I!" Becca squealed, pulling me along as she headed for Thompson's classroom.

I heard John say as we walked away, "Oh, you have English? I have Government first...okay, I guess I'll see you guys later!"

We were some of the first students in the classroom, so we sat by each other near the front.

"Can you believe John this morning? Talk about immature."

Then she dived into a story about how John had decided to pelt her with water balloons the week before, and how she chased him down the street. By the time she was finished, the bell rang and class was starting.

Mrs. Thompson had just started talking when a handsome looking boy walked into the class.

"Sorry I'm late, I got lost."

"Not to worry, are you Zachary Adams?"

"Yes ma'am," the boy replied.

"Okay, I've marked you present. Please take a seat."

Becca was trying to get my attention, and when I looked over at her, she mouthed "Wow" and then looked back at him admiringly.

"Did you SEE that guy? Talk about cute!" Becca exclaimed as we met up at my locker. "Didn't you think so, Keely?"

"Yeah, I mean, he was okay."

"Okay? _Okay_? He's more than 'okay'!"

I was working on organizing my locker, and made sure my salt shaker and photo were in their rightful place. The photo of Phil I kept in my locker, had me standing next to him, smiling at the camera as if nothing bad was about to happen. I stared at it a moment. I clearly looked different now, older. My hair was longer by 6 inches or so, and I wore it straight everyday instead of curly. I wore more elegant clothing, leaving bright colors and prints, quirky hair accessories and jewlery behind. Yet, there was no mistaking who I was when I looked in the mirror.

"Hey Keely, I was wondering," John started to ask, sounding hesitant. "Why do you have that salt shaker in your locker? I noticed it last year, but never got around to asking you about it."

I suddenly had a lump in my throat, and no matter how many times I swallowed, it wouldn't go away. I cleared my throat once, and answered.

"Uh, you know that friend I told you about? I gave him the pepper shaker shortly before he left, and I kept the salt. It's just our way of staying connected."

"Aww that's so cute!" Becca squealed, looking from the shaker to the picture. "And that's him? Aw, he looks like a nice guy...You're sure you're never going to see him again?"

"I'm sure," I said sadly, and then the bell rang, telling us to go to our next class.

The first week of school was at its end when Zachary Adams approached me on the way out of our last class.

"Hey," he said cooly.

"Hi," I said back, walking toward the door.

"Wait! I - I uh, wanted to talk to you. I've actually been trying to talk to you all week, but I never got the chance."

I raised my eyebrows. He wanted to talk to me?

"I was uh, wondering if you'd like to see a movie with me tomorrow night?"

I didn't know what to say. Becca was right, he was pretty cute. But for some reason, going out on a date with someone other than Phil didn't feel right.

 _You get married in the future, remember? You have to go out with other guys or that's not going to happen! Just say yes. It'll be good for you._

"I - Sure, that sounds like fun."

"Great! I'll pick you up at 7. See you tomorrow."

"You're going out...with ZACHARY?!" Becca shrieked on the phone the next day. "You didn't even think he was that cute! Ugh, talk about unfair. Still, I think it'd be good...you know, I notice you feel down sometimes, maybe this will cheer you up."

"Maybe... Okay, he is cute, isn't he?" I launched into a conversation about Zachary and what I should wear on my date, something I hadn't really done in a long time. It felt like I was starting to get my old self back.

The next day Becca came over to help me pick out an outfit. Again, something I hadn't done with a friend in awhile. Before we knew it, it was nearly time for Zachary to arrive, so Becca headed for the door. She paused, turned around, winked, and quickly exited. A few minutes later, Zachary was at the door with a bouquet of flowers.

"Hey, oh you brought daisies? They're my favorite."

"Yeah, I know," he smiled, guiltily.

"How?" Slightly suspicious, but him going through the trouble to find out put a smile on my face.

"John told me."

"You talked to John about me?" My grin widened.

"He told me he was friends with you, and Becca - he's in my Chemistry class so we had some time - and it wasn't very hard to get him talking about you when I asked."

"Oh, I see," I had to look down and work on not smiling too much.

It was silent for a moment, and I left the room to put the bouquet in some water.  
When I returned, he escorted me out of the house to his car.

We saw one of the romantic comedies currently playing, though I didn't pay much attention to what was going on. My time was either spent looking at him, or staring blankly at the screen thinking.

 _Don't feel bad about being happy. You deserve it._

I ran through different scenarios, each one of them ending the same as the next. He wasn't coming back. It's a difficult concept for me to grasp, probably because time travel has a way of making people absolutely confused.

Halfway through the movie, I decided to drop it and paid attention to most of the last half.

"That was an interesting movie, wasn't it?" Zachary asked me as we left the dark room.

"Oh yeah, that ending was awesome," I gave a little laugh.

He talked about the storyline, and the only action scene in the film. Then we stopped at a little cafe briefly to chat before heading home.

"I had a really nice time," I said as I walked onto the porch.

"So did I," he grinned, his hands in his pockets. "Would you like to go out again?"

"I'd like that."

"I'll call you then," he replied. He was starting to lean closer to me, but I stepped out of his way, and quickly said goodnight as I reached behind me and grabbed the doorknob. I hurried in, shutting the door behind me.

 _What was THAT? I thought as I did a literal facepalm, leaning against the door.  
He was going to kiss you, and you dodged! _

"UUUUUGH!" I shrieked in frustration, I was not looking forward to explaining my rash behavior, but he was most certainly going to ask on Monday.

I was wrong, though. Monday morning came, Zachary greeted me cheerfully, and I pretended that the last part of our date hadn't happened.

As time went on, Zachary became my new boyfriend, though he didn't quite fit as my best friend. We went to dances and school events together, hung out after school, in between classes. I hung a picture of Zachary and I together over the picture of me with Phil after my third date with Zachary. I didn't think he'd appreciate seeing the photo, and I didn't have the heart to take it down.

It was already time from prom, which meant dress shopping, and that graduation was around the corner.

Becca, Via, and I went shopping for new dresses. I chose an embellished royal blue floor-length gown, Becca a maroon tulle, and Via a white lace floor-length.

We were talking about our prom dates, Becca was going with John. John had liked her from the start, but Becca and I were sort of oblivious to that fact. He confessed to her before finals in December. Zachary and I had gone on a few double dates with them.

Via was going with a guy from her French class, William.

"I always thought you'd be going to prom with Owen," I said as I was looking at the shoes. I couldn't decide between a white pair of 3 inch heals, or a black pair of 3 1/2 inches.

"And I always thought you'd go with Phil," she replied back, absentmindely, she was also debating between a few pairs. Then she realized she might've said something wrong.

"Oh! I'm sorry Keel! I didn't mean to -"

"It's fine, really," I quickly said, hoping she'd drop it.

"Phil? Were you two a thing?" Becca joined the conversation. She seemed too interested to let the subject go. I sighed.

"They were, for a very short time. Then he abruptly left and she hasn't heard from him since. No one has actually, it's all rather strange."

"Why didn't you tell me before?!" Becca squealed, plopping down at the seat next to me.

"It's not something I like to talk about, alright?" I snapped, then regretting how harsh I sounded, I added, "look, I'm sorry, but my life is finally heading in a good direction again, and I don't want to think about the past, how much Phil meant to me, because that doesn't matter anymore..." I looked down at the shoes in my hand, and let out an exasperated sigh.  
"I can't decide which pair works best with this dress. What do you guys think?" I said, hoping they'd let it go. And they did. We also agreed the black pair would work better with the dress.

Prom night arrived, and the closer it came to be leaving for the dance, the more I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach.

The girls came over to work on finishing touches of their ensembles. An hour later the limo rode up and the guys got out, and entered the house. The sinking feeling intensified after I saw Zachary. Something wasn't right with him.

"Look at you all, you're all so gorgeous! Let me take a few pictures," my mother said, snapping at least a dozen shots before I told her it was enough and that we better get going.  
"Have fun, sweetie! You look absolutely stunning!"

I sat by Zachary in the limo, but he turned away from me, so that he'd either be talking to William or looking out the window. I didn't protest. Once we pulled up, Zachary pulled me aside. "I need to talk to you."

"Okay."

"How to put this...My ex-girlfriend from Pasedena decided to visit and well, she's here."

"Really? That's - that's...something. You told her you were going with me, right?"

"Actually, no. We uh...we kind of got back together."

I blinked twice, trying to register what I was hearing. "You got back together...as in... you've been seeing her while dating me?" My voice was rising.

"Well...yes," he glanced around nervously.

"Oh, oh I see. Okay well, thank you for having the decency to tell me...on prom night! How long have you been seeing her?" my voiced raised significantly with every word.

"A couple of weeks..." he replied hesitantly.

"Then you should've mentioned it 2 weeks ago. I don't know what's worse, the fact that I thought you were better than this, or that I trusted you not to hurt me, considering everything. I can't even stand looking at you right now!" I shoved the corsage he had given me at my house merely half an hour ago, at him, and stormed into the building.

I didn't want to ruin the night for the girls, so I sulked in the back trying not to cry and ruin my makeup. I knew it was only a matter of time though that they'd come looking for me.

"Keely! Where have you been? Where's Zachary?"

"We broke up," tears started welling up in my eyes. "He started dating his ex-girlfriend a couple of weeks ago, and I just found out."

"That jerk!" Via said angrily.

"Oh Keel, I'm so sorry! It's always the cute ones, isn't it?" Becca sighed.

"I'm going to be okay, once the shock has worn off. Things haven't felt right with Zach and I for awhile now. It's probably why he started seeing what's-her-face again. You guys go dance with your dates, I'll be fine," I gave them a convincing smile, and motioned for them to go. They glanced at each other, and with a bit more convincing, walked back in the crowd.

As I stood there, watching people dance, talk, and eat, I felt like someone was watching me. I looked around, and saw a glimpse of someone who was not dancing, talking, or eating. He had just quickly turned his head away and walked back into the crowd, and out of sight.

 _Weird_ , I thought.

Before the night had ended, a few dateless (and some not) guys came to speak with me, and to dance. My friends joined in after awhile, and even though things didn't work out with Zachary, I still managed to have a pretty good night.

I arrived home late, my mom of course waited up for me.

"How'd it go?" she greeted sweetly.

"It was great, despite the fact that Zachary and I broke up."

"You what?" she asked me, surprised.

"He was seeing his ex-girlfriend behind my back, Mom." She gave me a shocked look.  
"I'm alright, really."

"Oh honey, I'm so sorry..." she said sympathetically.

"I'm really worn out, I've been on my feet almost all night. I'll talk to you in the morning."

I felt two different kinds of pain now. A new, yet dull pain of betrayal and rejection, and a much more powerful ache of longing and nostalgia of what my life was like only two years ago, but now feels like it has been forever.

 _I graduate next week, and the next big step for me is university._

The thought made me nervous, yet excited. Then without notice, that guy I had seen only a glimpse of that night, flashed behind my eyes. I still had no clue who he was, but nonetheless, the memory brought a smile to my face after a day of hurt.


	2. Mystery Guy

_Keely, Keely..._ a voice was calling me. I walked closer. Keely! Where are you?! The voice called anxiously. It was a familiar voice, a voice that I knew but didn't want to accept who it belonged to.

 _I'm here! I'm coming!_ I called back, running as fast as I could to the direction of the voice. I reached a door, and with a shaking hand, turned the knob. Behind it, was a dark figure, the one who had been calling my name. As he stepped into the light, it was unmistakable who he was. Phil was staring back at me in horror.

I woke up screaming, and my mother rushed in to calm me.

"It's okay dear, it was just a dream, just a dream."

"Phil, Phil was in it and he was...was..." I've had dreams similar to this in the past week, since the night I came home from prom.

"Shhh, it wasn't real, honey. I'm just sorry you have to start your day this way, you've got your graduation this afternoon!"

"This afternoon?!" I sat up, startled. It couldn't be today, no way...

My calendar was clearly marked. Today was graduation day.

"Can you believe it? We're finally graduating!" Via approached me in her cap and gown, Becca, John, and William flanking her.

"Ahh, I know, I can't!" I squealed in reply.

"John's being a dork today, he wouldn't let me fix his cap, and he was wearing it ALL WRONG," huffed Becca, rolling her eyes.

"How do you wear the cap wrong?" I asked curiously.

"Don't ask. You're saying something during the ceremony, right?" she said as more of a reminder than a question. Of course I hadn't forgotten! I was extremely nervous.

"You'll be fine, Keely!" Via insisted, throwing a sharp look at Becca.

We made our way to our seats, and before I knew it, I was called to the podium.

I had a good start to my speech, though I was screaming underneath my calm facade. As I spoke, I scanned the crowd. I saw the familiar faces of my classmate's parents, and my mother. While my eyes brushed over the second row, my eyes caught a glimpse of someone that made my heart stop.

My eyes darted back to the face they had only momentarily passed by, but when I looked again, he had sunk down in his chair enough that I could only see his eyebrows, forehead, and hair.

I hadn't noticed that I not only stared fixated at him, but I had stopped mid-sentence of my speech. The crowd stirred.

I gave a nervous laugh, cleared my throat, and finished my speech.

When the ceremony was over, Via and Becca ran up at the first moment possible to ask me what had suddenly made me stop my speech.

"You were doing so wonderfully, and then you just..." Via's thought drifted off.

"...you looked like you saw a ghost! Your eyes bugged out of your head. Who was it?" Becca nudged me, excitedly.

"No one, it was no one. I thought I saw someone I knew, but it wasn't them. Come on, let's go get ready for the party!"  
The party was spectacular, yet had a sad vibe to it. This was the last time all of us would be together.

One of the girls from my English class approached me part way through the party.

"Some guy's looking for you," she said, pointing out the back door. "He's really cute, too," she added, turning slightly pink.

"Thanks," I said, and walked out the back. The garden of the house we were at was beautiful. Outdoor lights were on, emphasizing the beauty in the near darkness. There was also a pool, adding to the scenery. It was quiet, and I wondered why everyone was inside instead of in the fabulous backyard.

There was a tall figure standing with his back towards me, staring at the pool. I walked closer, but he hadn't heard me approach.

"Um, excuse me? Are you the one who's been looking for me?" I asked politely.

The boy chuckled, but didn't turn around.  
I walked closer, he was a few inches taller than me, though he had his neck craned so I couldn't be sure how much.

"Who are you?" I asked, trying to get a peek at his face.

"I'll give you a guess, Pepper."

 _Pepper... He called me Pepper..._

My mind flashed back to Phil and I, saying our goodbyes.

 _"In the future, will you wait for me?" I whispered in his ear. We were being broadcast around the entire school._

 _"Really? 'Cause well, you'll be really, really old." I let go of Phil and gave him a look. "But that shouldn't matter," he added with a smile._

 _"See you, Pepper," Phil said._

 _"See ya, Salt," I replied._

"You couldn't...I mean it's not possible..." I shook my head back and forth, not letting my mind go there.

"Look, I don't know who you are, or how you found out about that, but it's not funny!" I yelled, tears burning my eyes, and spilling down my cheeks. "It's not some joke you can play on someone, it's cruel! Why would you want to hurt me by pretending to be my best friend, who I'm never going to see again?!" I continued screaming, and started to storm away, trying to wipe the tears from my eyes so I could see.

"Wait!" he called, grabbing my arm. "Look at me, Keel. Turn around and look at me."

I sniffed, continuing to wipe the tears away, refusing to turn to look at him.

"Please," he added gently.

The tone in his voice is the only thing that made me turn around. Immediately, my eyes widened, and my mouth gaped open. He had Phil's eyes and smile, I would recognize them anywhere. He even had a hairstyle close to his old haircut. But that's where the similarities ended. He had grown several inches taller, his face had a completely different shape, his jaw angular and defined. His voice was deeper. He also clearly visited the gym regularly, so he wasn't the same scrawny guy I knew. But nothing changed about his eyes, not even the way he looked at me. And there in his hands, he held the pepper shaker I had given him.

I had spent two years telling myself I would never see him again. I went over that fact many times. Logic and reasoning should've had me stopping to ask questions. Instead, without a second thought, I rushed over and flung my arms around his neck, and began sobbing all over again.

"You're here!" I croaked, holding my arms tight around him, not wanting to let go.

"I'm here," he said, his arms locked around my waist.

"But how?" I choked out, I sounded absolutely awful.

"Let's go sit down and I'll tell you," he guided me to a bench that sat in the beautiful garden underneath a huge canopy tree, as I tried my best to keep calm.


	3. Was it Real?

"Things were pretty chaotic when we got back to the future. For one, we couldn't return to the year 2121."

"Why not?" I still couldn't stop crying or shaking, I was in complete shock. He was actually right here with me again.

"We were away for two years. Well, we _aged_ two years. It's the law for us to return the exact time we were away from when we left our current time. We were gone for 2 years and 2 months, so we had to set the time machine for April 14th, 2123 since we left in February of 2121. But it didn't matter much, not a lot happened in that time frame as far as major events goes."

"Oh..."

"It didn't take long for me to realize how out of place I felt in my own time. I fell back into some of my old routines, hanging out with friends and all. They thought being stuck in the early 21st century was an absolute nightmare, and they were glad I was back. I tried convincing them that it was actually really great in the first decade of the 21st century, but they didn't believe me. I no longer felt like I belonged there, and all I wanted was to get my life back to how it was before, here with you. So I worked hard to get it arranged, though it took a long time before I was finally allowed."

Suddenly, it hit me Phil couldn't be 18 years old like I was. He looked older than that.

"...How long did it take you?"

"Four years, I'm twenty now."

"You're twenty?!" I sat up quickly, looking at his face.

"That's not a problem, is it? I could go forward a couple of years..." Phil pointed behind him, the corner of his mouth twitching into that crooked smile.

"No!" I cried quickly, desperately. Not another two long, miserable years without him.

"No?" Phil chuckled. "I'm just kidding."

Even though my heart was thumping like it'd burst out of my chest, I elbowed him in the ribs. He used to always hate that, but apparently it didn't make him as uncomfortable as it used to.

"My family's coming back as well, they still had a few things to work out before they could leave. There are some serious restrictions on time travel now." I nodded, trying to smile but my face was covered in tears.

We sat without speaking for a couple of minutes, and listened to the sounds of the night.

Then he asked, "So what happened on prom night? You looked sad."

"I um - wait, you were there?"

"Yeah, I uh, I was there..." Phil looked over at the trees, avoiding looking at me.

"That guy was you? In the crowd. I saw this guy that reminded me of you and - and well, I thought I was seeing things since I knew I'd never see you again...Why didn't you come up to me then?"

"First answer my question," he interjected.

"Okay, well..." Sighing, I looked down at my lap. "I had been going out with this guy, Zachary, and I found out he had been seeing his ex behind my back."

"Oh Keel, I'm so sorry," Phil said genuinely, putting his arm around my shoulders.

"No it's fine, really," I smiled at him, only happiness clear on my face. All pain and hurt I felt had been erased the moment I knew that he was Phil, and that he was back with me.

"Was that also you at graduation?" I asked, suddenly realizing it was his face I saw.

"That was me."

"So why didn't you say something?!" I said relieved, and slightly annoyed.

"Well I didn't know how you were going to react! Considering how you reacted to me just a few minutes ago, it could've been a lot worse. Or even if you had recognized me immediately... maybe you wouldn't have wanted anything to do with me anymore, that you had put me behind you, and seeing me would only upset you. I wouldn't have blamed you if that was the case."

Phil looked sad then, more than sad really. His eyes had an emptiness that I didn't like, and a pain I had never seen in them before.

"Yes, I was trying to move on with my life, because I thought I'd never see you again. I was hurting so much... So I tried living my life like anyone else would. School, friends, dating, activities and hobbies...and it helped. But I would never not want to see you. It would hurt so much more than I have been if I had missed my chance at seeing you again. I don't even want to think about that."

"I was planning to tell you at your prom, but you didn't seem to be having the best night, and I was afraid I'd only make it worse, so I stayed in the crowd. Then at your graduation, I only wanted to see you graduate, and planned to meet you here at the party, to try telling you I was here. I didn't think you'd see me amongst the crowd, but I guess I was wrong."

"I'm just glad you're here," I hugged him again.

"She's out here somewhere," I heard Becca's voice trail over to where we were sitting.

"Oh no," I said quietly.

"What?" Phil asked, a bit more alert.

"That's Becca, I don't want to deal with her or anyone else right now. Come on, let's go home."

I lead him to the gate, and we rushed out the front and started to jog

"Why are we running?"

"You don't know Becca," I said, he was keeping pace next to me. "She'll track me down. She knew I was out here with a guy, and well, let's just say you meeting her right now isn't a good idea."

It wasn't a very long jog, within minutes we were already back in front of my house.

"I have to take care of a few things, Keel, but I promise I'll see you tomorrow," Phil told me when we reached the porch.

"You have to go?" Sadness and disappointment flooded my voice.

"Don't worry, I'll come back. I'm not going back to the future. I'll be here in the morning," he quickly took three steps forward, and kissed me. My mind went fuzzy and I became lightheaded.

"Wow..." I said, shaking my head to attempt to clear it.

"Tomorrow," he grinned at me with that smile I've missed so much, then faded into the darkness.

I woke up with butterflies in my stomach, Phil on my mind. Then dread began to seep in. That was all just a dream, none of that had actually happened. I've had dreams of Phil returning before, only this one had seemed so real...

I got out of bed grumpily, and headed to the kitchen for breakfast when there was a sharp rap at the door. My stomach fluttered.

I dashed to the door, and flung it open. Becca stood in the doorway.

"Oh gee, sorry to disappoint," she said coldly when she saw my face fall.

"Sorry!" I motioned for her to come in.

"Where'd you go last night? We were told you were in the back with someone, but when we went out there you were gone."

I fought a grin, so it HAD been real!

"I was um, feeling really tired and I decided to go home."

"Pssh, right. So you walked home instead of asking for a ride, when you were tired. And you also left without saying goodbye to any of us? Please Keely. Who was he?"

"Who's who?" I asked innocently.

"The guy you left with. People saw you, and yeah, gossip spreads like wildfire at a party."

"Oh...that guy." I hoped no one overheard what we were talking about, that would be really dangerous.

"So you're seeing someone new, you don't have to keep it a secret! Honestly maybe it'd make Zachary a bit jealous so he'd realize what an idiot he is."

Before I could speak, Becca went on.

"So, who is he? What's he like? Is he cute?"

I laughed nervously, I didn't want to tell anyone Phil was back until he said it was okay.

"You know what, I just remembered I have to be somewhere in less than an hour," I led her toward the door."

"But -"

"I'll talk to you later, I'm sorry!" I shut the door in her face, and raced up the stairs to get ready.

While I was finishing up with my makeup, the doorbell rang. I ran down, stopping in front of the door to compose myself and fix my hair. I opened the door, Phil stood there leaning against the door frame.

"Hey Keel," he greeted me.

I didn't say anything, and went straight for the hug.

"I woke up this morning thinking last night was a dream," I told him as I let go.

"I'm sorry I rushed off last night, but my family's here and they'd like to see you."

"Really?! They're here?" I was excited, I missed all of the Diffy's, even Pim.

"Yeah, come on, then we'll go somewhere alone afterwards."

I walked into the Diffy houehold, nothing had changed since the last time I was here.

Mr. and Mrs. Diffy stood at the door, their 4 years away had not affected their appearance much.

"Keely!" Mrs. Diffy walked up and gave me a hug. "It's so good to see you!"

"It's really great to see you all," I told them, looking back at Phil. "Where's Pim?"

"Oh she's in her room. Pim, Keely's here!" she shouted up the stairs.

Pim was two years younger than us when she left, which meant she was now my age.

She walked down the stairs, time had definitely affected her as much as her brother, but she still looked just like Pim.

"Hey there Blondie, long time no see," her personality hadn't changed much it seemed.

"Hey Pim," I said politely. Honestly, Pim scared me a bit sometimes and I never knew how to speak to her.

"Phil wouldn't shut up about you the entire time we were away. This one time, he mmmfff-" Phil put his hand over Pim's mouth.

"That's enough, Pim!" he shouted angrily.

"Sorry bro," she said sweetly when he let her go, then leaned toward me and whispered, "come find me later, I have a lot of Phil stories to tell you about." She walked into the living room, whistling innocently. Apparently that was a trait of hers she hadn't outgrown.

"You know what, let's go over to the tennis courts now," Phil said suddenly, steering me toward the door.

"Wh-" was all I could say before I was on the porch.

"Okay, come back for dinner though, I'm making something special!" Mrs. Diffy called after us.

"Phew," he said as he shut the door.

"What?"

"They're blabbermouths, all of them," he shook his head in annoyance. "There are some things I have to tell you, and I didn't want anyone else to beat me to it."

We had reached the tennis courts after walking a couple of blocks, and sat down in the grass.  
It was our place, we came here all the time before he left. Sad to say, I couldn't bring myself to come back here alone.

"I've missed this place," I admired the familiar scenery, and Phil looked at me questioningly.

"Missed it? But you've been here all this time, I'm the one that should be saying that."

"I haven't come here since you left. Well, I came here once shortly after you had, but there were too many memories here, and I couldn't bring myself to come here anymore."

I saw Phil looking at me through the corner of my eyes, but I couldn't look at him. I was remembering the day I had come here, hoping that this place would make me feel closer to him. But instead I felt like he was a million miles away.

"I started seeing someone a few months after I got back to the future," he started, making a point not to look at me. "I grew up with her you see, and she was thrilled when I made it back home. I had no idea she had liked me though. She came by everyday, and for the longest time I didn't even care she was there, I was too caught up in missing you. Then it just became a routine thing to do, to hang out after we were done with our schooling, or on a weekend.

Before I knew it, I started to get to know her again, and she made things easier for me. I wasn't missing you as much, and I liked her. So I asked her out."

"Oh..." I said, feeling both jealous and hurt. I had done the exact same thing, but it didn't make it hurt any less.

"No, don't look like that. Let me finish," he put his hand on my shoulder, and looked into my eyes.

"We went out for awhile, and things were going fine. But subconsciously, I was reminded of how much I missed you. I had dreams with you in them sometimes still, and one day I fell asleep while over at her house. I had one of those dreams, and according to her, I mumbled 'Keely, come back... Come back...' in my sleep. She woke me up, and demanded that I tell her if I was in love with you. I realized that I was, and that I always would be. I told her the truth, and she kicked me out of her house. Literally, in the future you can have someone kicked out with the press of a button. It's hilarious, this one time my uncle was over and -"

"Phil!" I interrupted his babbling. "You're in love with me?"

"I - yeah," his face turned red, his mouth in a crooked grin.

My heart raced, and my face felt extremely hot, no doubt bright red. I leaned my head on Phil's shoulder.

"And I love you," I said quietly. He glanced down at me, and leaned his head on mine.

"I probably shouldn't have done this, but when I found out I was going to be able to come back, I tried to find out as much as possible about what happened between when I left and when I was set to return. I know about John, Becca, and that Via and Owen got together. And I knew about Zachary," he said Zach's name with distaste. "It's one of the reasons I watched you for awhile before coming to you. I knew you were dating him, and I didn't want to come by out of the blue and ruin anything for you."

"I really wish you would have," I looked down at my hands. "I could've had more time with you."

Then I wondered how he knew about everything.

"It's best you don't know..." Phil said, and cleared his throat. I decided he was right, technology in the future sounds scary.

"Also, I couldn't help myself, but remember how we found out you were going to be a reporter, and saw that wedding ring? I wanted to see who it was that gave it to you."

"Did you find out?" I asked, leaning away to look at him.

He dug around in his pocket, and pulled out a ring.

I stared at it. It was the exact same one I had been wearing. And trust me, I'm not one to forget jewelry when I see it.

"I saw it in the window of a shop when I was out one day, before I knew I was coming back. I recognized it, and bought it without thinking."

"So does that mean...?" I moved my head to face him, my eyes fixated forward, and my mouth open in shock.

"I don't know for sure, since there are probably other rings like it out there. Wedding rings in the future are based on styles of the past and all. But it's a possibility it's this one."

For a moment, I pictured us a few years from now. Happy and together.

"It's amazing, even though I'm from the future, I don't know how the future's going to turn out. It looked like someone went to the trouble of erasing whoever your future husband is in the archives."

"Whoever they are, I'm grateful. I don't want the surprise spoiled."

We eased away from the topic. I eventually told him the story I gave people about where he went, and why we weren't in contact.

"That was brilliant, Keely."

I shrugged, and told him about Mr. Hackett and some of the little things he wouldn't have known from his future archives. Then we decided to play a game of tennis.

"So are you the tennis master, or am I? I forget," Phil didn't forget, he just wanted to hear me say it.

"You are..." I mumbled, nearly inaudible.

"What was that?" he cupped his hand around his ear.

"You are!" I made a face, and stuck my tongue out at him.

I smacked him with my racket as he walked toward the net, and he quickly bounded over it, falling down on the court.

"Ah, de ja vu!" He said, still lying on the ground.

"Are you okay? I asked concerned, running up to the net.

"I'm fine, that really doesn't feel any better the second time," Phil laughed it off, and got into position. His phone rang when I was about to serve. I stopped to let him answer it.

"Dinner's ready," he said as he stuffed his phone back into his pocket. "We'll pick this up later."


	4. Insight

When we walked back through the door, I was greeted with balloons, a 'CONGRATULATIONS KEELY' banner, and the smell of a variety of different dishes.  
I always felt so at home with the Diffy's, sometimes more at home than my own.

I started to tear up, and Mrs. Diffy walked up and gave me a hug.  
"I've missed you all, thank you so much," I said, still hugging Mrs. Diffy.

We had dinner, and I told them what I had been up to the past couple of years, and they told me about their past 4 years. Mrs. Diffy was influenced so much by her time in the early 21st century, that she studied and attended an old fashioned cooking class. Mr. Diffy went back to his old job, but was unhappy with how fast paced it was after 2 years of working at the hardware store, so he tried numerous other things before deciding he wanted to come back to this century. And Pim said she hated that nearly everyone she knew was just as if not smarter than her, and it took away her superiority, so she wanted to come back, too.

"How's Curtis?" I asked, when I looked around and saw he wasn't there.

"He's good. He's in the garage, he's missed his cave," Phil answered.

When dinner was over, Phil's family left on some errands.

"So, do you want to see some videos I made while I was in the future, or do you want to go play that game of tennis?" He asked, this was the first time he brought up videos.

"Videos?"

"Yeah well, I took a couple of video cameras with me, and decided in case I could someday make it back to you, that I'd like to be able to show you my life there. Filming really stuck with me."

"I want to see a couple of videos, then we'll play that game," I said excitedly.

Phil put on a DVD, and I saw him in what looked to be his room back in the 22nd century. He looked exactly how he did when he left.

"Hey Keel, I know you may never see this, but I'm hoping that one day I'll get to see you again and show you these videos. If not, at least they help me deal with being back in the future," he chuckled once without humor.

I saw their house, his town, and random people of the future walking by.  
Then he introduced me to some of his friends.

"Why are you using that thing? I know you were in the 21st century a long time, but you're back now. Use technology in this century, people are going to think you're weird." One of his friends had said when he put the camera on them.

"That friend of yours is dead now, she's never going to see it. And there's no way you're going to be able to go back in time again, so I don't even know why you're doing this." Another had remarked, his comment had made us both shudder at the word "dead".

Then a pretty girl was on the screen, and she was asking Phil about why he was so interested in a hundred years ago, that people who lived in my time were almost as boring as those in the century before us, if not more so and to stop living in the past and focus on their future.  
She had said 'our future' like they had a future together.

"So that's her, huh?" I cringed a bit.

"Yeah..." he dragged it out. "She's nothing compared to you though, I hope you know that."  
I just made a face. She was really pretty, and probably smarter.

He caught his friends having normal conversations about their Wizards and other future technology and things in general I had no idea about.

The next video, he was clearly older, but not as old as he was now. He had grown a bit, and bulked up some.

"It's been almost a year since my last video, though I've picked up my camera several times since, I thought it was hopeless to make these videos like my friends said. But today I got some good news, I may be able to come back soon! And this time, permanently. So I decided that I'd at least make a video once every few months. There isn't a way to charge the battery of these cameras here, so I'll have to try to reserve them."

The next scene, he was at a beautiful little lake. He had his tripod set up so I could see him while he skipped rocks.  
"I come here a lot, when I'm feeling down. It's the only place in the city that reminds me of Pickford. I never realized how busy and industrialized it was where I live, until I came back. I think people of the future forget what it's like to just be outside in nature."

The scene changed again, this time he was at a mall. It was huge, and not too different from the mall he had shown me on our virtual trip to the future.

"You're favorite place, Keel. The mall," Phil's voice said, though he was behind the camera. I saw people walk by and stare, and heard one of the men who walked by cough "geek" and the woman he was with giggle.

"Haha yeah, let's make fun of the guy with a century old piece of technology," Phil muttered behind the camera. "People in the past were so much nicer," he went on, walking towards one of the stores.  
"And here's the gym, where I started to work out at a few months ago. I needed something to replace filming, and so a friend brought me here."

The guy at the desk eyed him suspiciously, before shaking his head and looking back down at something he had been looking at before.

I got to see a few more stores before the screen went black. Then I saw him, as he is now, in the time machine.

"I'm on my way!" he exclaimed with the hugest grin on his face. I saw his reaction to stepping out of the time machine, back in Pickford again for the first time in years. He took a deep breath, and said "I forgot how fresh the air smells here. One thing that the camera couldn't pick up was the smell," Phil crinkled his nose, and walked into his house. It was dusty and had a bit of an abandoned air to it, but it was just how they left it.

He went back outside, and looked down the street where my house was, and saw me with Zachary. I had just gotten home from school, and he was dropping me off.  
Phil made an exaggerated frantic face, and quickly went to put the time machine in stealth mode, just in case I looked down and saw it. However, I was distracted with a flier I had received at school that day to have noticed.

"There you are," Phil said, his eyes warm and had a dreamy look to them. Then he looked at the camera. "Four years Keely," he sounded sad again. "And I still have to wait to see you."

I walked inside my house on the video, and the scenery changed again. He was walking into the building that held the prom, and commented that he had gotten a smaller, more sleek camera. He recorded people in the crowd, dancing and laughing.

"Oh look, it's Owen!" he said, as he saw him dancing with a couple of girls. Then he looked over in a different direction, and saw Via and Becca. He tried to get as close to them as possible, since Via would surely recognize him, he hesitated back aways.

"Do you really think she's okay?" asked Via, she was clearly concerned about someone.

"I'm sure Keely will be fine. They'd probably break up soon anyway, you know with him going to New Hampshire for school and all. It was inevitable."

Via didn't look too happy with Becca's answer, but she walked away toward her date.

"Oh no..." I heard Phil say, as he pushed through the crowd of dancing teenagers. Then there I was, my eyes were still a bit red, so it was clear I had been crying.

"Keel..." he said so quietly that with the pumping music and talking people, it was nearly inaudible on camera, much less from several feet away. However, at that moment I had looked in the direction of the camera, as if I heard him calling my name. He had shut it off at that point, and the next scene was my graduation.

I was speaking, and was relieved to see I was doing a pretty good job. Though I knew that would change. Soon enough, I had looked over to where Phil was sitting, and my eyes grew wide and my mouth popped open in surprise. He sunk down in his chair so that all you could see were the chairs of the people in front of him.

The screen flashed, and suddenly I was seeing him stare into the camera.  
"I'm so sorry Keely, you're going through such a hard time right now, and I'm afraid that me appearing out of nowhere's just going to add onto that. Should I be selfish and try to see you anyway, or do what's best for you and keep my distance for awhile?" You could practically see him debating it in his head.

"Be selfish, be selfish!" I shouted at the screen, and then I grinned at Phil sitting next to me.

"So I did the right thing?" he asked, clearly still unsure.

"Yes you did. I just have one question though."

"What's that?"

"Why did you pick the present? Why didn't you go forward a couple of years when I'm twenty, like you?"

Phil smiled, and then turned so he was completely facing me.  
"In two years, where are you going to be?"

"At university." I answered immediately.

"Doing what?" he continued, nudging me to answer my own question.

"Learning," I said.

"And?"

"And probably with spending time with new friends, and around new people..." I saw where he was going with this.

"In a new and different environment. Wouldn't it be even more weird and bizarre if I came to you then, randomly one day when you're in the middle of studying for some big exam or ran up to you while you were walking somewhere on campus? 'Oh hey Keely, remember me?'" He said in a higher pitched voice than his normal tone.

I playfully shoved him, "I guess I see your point..."

"Though, now that you know I'll be there, I really could just go forward a couple of years. It'll only be a few minutes for me."

"It'll be an actual two years for me! Please don't, I don't want to go another two years without you."

Phil's crooked smile quickly faded, and his jokingness disappeared.  
"No, of course not. Four years is too long, I know," he was staring into space until I snapped him out of it.

"Phil, is something bothering you?"

"Being gone that long, growing up that much, makes me feel like I'm a different person. I mean my two years here changed me enough that my friends back in the 22nd century think I'm some sort of retro weirdo now. What if those four years back there, changed me even more?" He was actually worried about that? "And how hard it was to be away from you for that long..."

"Phil," I started, trying to figure out the right way to word it. "You spent your entire life there, before you came here. You were the most wonderful person I had ever met then, and you still are now. Going back wouldn't have changed who you really are. Sure, maybe you picked up a new habit, or possibly you like whatever the newest thingamajiggy is in 2125. You look different, yes, you grew up and started working out. So what - I mean not so what as in who cares because you look amazing by the way - but so what if you've changed some. It happens to everyone. What's important is that you've kept everything that makes you, you. Like your kindness, your sense of humor," I nudged him at that, "and the fact that you would do anything for a friend just to make them happy. I appreciate that you were concerned about me possibly not taking the news well, but you did the right thing in telling me when you did, and not waiting." I paused for a moment. "As far as you being away, I know just where you're coming from."

Phil looked at me, his eyebrow raised.

"I would have these dreams...sometimes they were nightmares where I couldn't get to you when you called my name. Other times you'd disappear or something would happen to you. They were frightening, but once I woke up, I knew that you were okay in the future."

"And the other times?" He asked softly.

"You'd just be there with me, like you used to. In school, playing tennis at the courts, walking around town..." I clenched my teeth to keep myself from crying. "They were the hardest on me, because I'd wake up thinking you were still in my life, but it quickly faded when I realized that it wasn't real, that I wouldn't see you again."

Phil quietly stared at me, his eyes full of sadness and pain.

"No matter how hard I tried, trying to distract myself, spending time with other people, and just living my life, you were always there. Your name would run through my head at random, I'd see someone who reminded me of you, or a memory of you would come up when I least expected it. I wanted it all to go away so much that for a time, I'm ashamed to say that I wished I had never met you. I just wanted it to stop. But then I thought about it, and I would've missed out on meeting the best person I've ever known, and I would've missed out on right now with you, too."

Phil put his arms around me, leaning his chin on my shoulder. He let out a sigh, and said,  
"I'm so sorry that me leaving caused you so much pain..."

"I think something good came out of this though, which is why it happened in the first place."

"What's that?" asked Phil, his arms still wrapped around me.

"I wouldn't have hurt so much if I didn't love you, and this whole thing made me realize just how much I do. That we've been through so much to be here where we are right now. That you cared about me so much, that you'd leave your time to be back here with me. If you had just stayed here and not gone back to the future, we wouldn't have known just how much we can get through, and it wouldn't have helped us grow into the people we are today. Maybe this is what needed to happen before we were ready to be together?"

Phil grinned, and shook his head in bewilderment.  
"Since when did you become so insightful, Keel?"

I thought about it a moment, before I shrugged. "I guess I grew up a little bit while you were away."

Phil spun me around so he could face me, and put his hand under my chin.  
"I think you're right, about this needing to have happened. I can't say that it wasn't the worst thing I've ever had to go through, but if it resulted in something positive, then who am I to dwell on it? Especially when you've accepted it and moved on. I'm really proud of you for the way you handled it."

I made a face, and looked down at the ground. "I wouldn't be praising me if I were you. I mean, I made an effort to go on with my life, and I did fool some people, to an extent anyway, but I constantly found myself thinking about what you were doing, and realizing every time my mind wandered down that path, that you didn't exist yet. As if you had died, and just the thought of that..." my voice broke at the end.

"I guess it's not too different from me, then. I often thought about you, and what you were doing. But then I'd remember that you had already lived your life, and that you actually had d-d-d..." Phil stuttered, swallowing, and combed through his dark hair with his hand anxiously. He couldn't force himself to say the word.  
"It was so hard to get over that fact. I guess our thoughts were on the same page."

I nodded. "But things are okay now. You're back, you're all back, and things can kind of go back to how they were before you left."

"Only you've made new friends, graduated, and will be going to university in a few months," he put his hands in his pockets, and kicked the ground with his foot.

"I'll introduce you to them, if you're okay with that. And you can come with me! It'll be great, you could easily get into any university, so if you come with me, we can go to classes together, and parties, and..."

Phil just chuckled. "We can talk about all of that later. Didn't you promise me a match after I showed you the videos?"

I brushed some hair back behind my ear. "Oh. Right. Mr. Tennis Champ has to prove he's still the best, right?"

He made a noise in the back of his throat, and his mouth twisted into his wide, but crooked grin, making his eyes twinkle.

"Alright," I sighed in defeat. He chuckled again at the expression on my face, and took my hand, leading me out the front door.


End file.
